over the course of that visit to new york city, 750 people throughout the city saw him and of course, chris, you might remember that. mario cuomo was the governor, dinkins was the mayor and nelson mandela made a big splash here and big impression on new york when he visited here. >> i remember many said they never met anyone like nelson mandela. we'll check back in with you later on. >>> right now we get perspect e perspective, though, nelson mandela devoted himself to humanitarian work. sir richard branson worked with nelson mandela on many projects and helped him form a group called the elders. a very important part for nelson mandela to what should be his legacy. sir richard branson joins us now. thanks for joining us. great to have you on the show. i want to say first, nelson mandela was a personal friend as well as a role model and i am sorry for your loss this morning. but thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. i think everybody who knew him well is actually relieved for him and for his family, because he was having a very tough last two years. and now -- now he can r